The Formation of the Church
The Church defined as a visible hierarchical society; its founding by Christ through the choice of the Apostles, the great commission, and the promise of perpetual presence.
The Church is defined as the society of men united by the profession of the same Christian faith, the participation in the same sacraments, and the governance of the same legitimate pastors — above all, the Roman Pontiff. It is a *visible* society (not an invisible congregation of the inwardly elect) and a *hierarchical* society (not a democracy of equal members). Christ's founding of the Church is established from the Gospels: He chose and specially trained the Twelve Apostles, gave them a specific commission ("Go, teach all nations"), promised them His abiding presence, conferred on them the power to forgive sins and offer the Eucharist, and instituted a permanent structure with Peter at its head. The Church was founded to last until the end of time: Christ promised to be with it "all days, even to the consummation of the world," making it not a provisional arrangement but a permanent institution.
a) Meaning of Church
The word church comes into our language by a roundabout derivation from the Greek kyriakony which means “the Lord’s house.” Thus church literally means a building or place where believers gather to worship God. By extension, the term church means the believers themselves, and the word may be defined as : The body of those who believe the same doctrine, observe the same essential worship, and recognize a common religious authority. In other words, a church is a society of persons banded together under a common religious authority to achieve their common end (i.e., salvation) by the use of common means. 2Z7
If Our Lord Jesus Christ founded such a society, He founded a Church.
b) The Founding of the Church
Our Lord founded a society such as we have described (i.e., a Church) if He formed a group of His followers into a special body with special ministry, and gave to this body the task of gathering mankind together under their teaching and governing authority for the profession and practice of His true religion. Now, Our Lord did form such a group, and He did give this gj-oup such a commission. Therefore, Our Lord founded a Church. 1. Our Lord formed a special group. In St. Luke’s Gospel (vi, 12-16) we read: “It came to pass in those days that he (i.e., Christ) went out into a mountain to pray, and he passed the whole night in the prayer of God. And when day was come, he called unto him his disciples: and he chose twelve of them whom also he named Apostles: Simon whom he surnamed Peter, and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, Mattihew and Thomas, James the son of Alpheus, and Simon who is called Zelotes, and Jude the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot who was the traitor.” 2. Our Lord gave this group a special ministry. When a successor to Judas was to be chosen, St. Peter said to the ot tiers (Acts i, 15-17) : “Brethren, the Scripture must needs be fulfilled … concerning Judas … who was numbered with us and had obtained part of this ministry” Praying God to direct their choice, the disciples said (Acts i, 24, 25) : “Thou Lord, who knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen to take the place of this ministry and apostleship from which Judas hath by transgression fallen …” 3. The ministry of the Apostles was to teach and govern all men: Christ said to the Apostles: “Going therefore, teach all nations … to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matthew xxviii, 18-20). Thus the Apostles were to teach and govern all nations—all mankind. In detail, the Apostles were to baptize (Matthew xxviii, 19), to teach Christ’s religion (Matthew xxviii, 20), to offer the sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Christ (John xxii, 19), to loose and bind (Matthew xviii, 18), to forgive sins (John xx, 23), to exercise Christ’s own authority (John xx, 21). Christ, therefore, founded a Church. In founding the central teaching and governing body as the core and nucleus of the whole Church, Christ established the teaching Church and gave it commission to enlist the believing or the learning Church. The teaching and the learning Church together make up the one undivided Church of Jesus Christ. This Church was founded for all men of all times. Christ said, “Teach all nations, … and behold I am with you all days even to the consum- mation of the world. ( Matthew xxviii, 18—20). In commissioning His Apostles, Christ established His Church. And in establishing His Church, He arranged for the spread of His religion. He did not command His teaching Church, His commissioned Apostles, to prepare documents or scriptures; He commanded them to go and teach, and baptize, and forgive sins, and offer Mass (John xxii, 19), and require obedience from men to “all things whatsoever I have commanded,” i.e., to the whole of His religion. Christ Himself has left no written line or word of instruction nor did He ever tell His Apostles to write. The Holy Scripture is indeed the word of God, yet we see from the founding of the Church that it is not the sole means, nor the most important means, for the enlightenment and salvation of mankind. Christ is God, and His Church is the Church of God. Therefore, a 1 men are required to know it, to recognize it, to belong to it, to live up to its requirements. Those who realize this obligation, or who might easily recognize it by giving even a little serious thought to this all-important matter, cannot hope for salvation if they remain out of Christ’s Church.
Summary of the Article
We have seen in this brief but very important article that Christ, in commissioning His Apostles to teach and govern mankind in His name and by His authority, founded a Church. We have seen that the Church is the means for the enlightenment and salvation of the world. We have paused upon the point of man’s obligation to know and to belong to the true Church of Christ. In a later Chapter we shall show that the true Church of Christ is the Catholic Church and no other.